


Like Family

by meridian_rose (meridianrose)



Category: Santa Clarita Diet (TV)
Genre: Anne/Lisa mentioned, Avenue Q, Background Relationships, Bisexual Female Character, Black Eye, Eric/Abby mentioned, Family Feels, Father Figures, Gen, Homophobic Language, Ice Cream, Joel gets protective of Eric, My First Work in This Fandom, Sheila's knowledgeable about kinks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 12:17:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16284455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianrose/pseuds/meridian_rose
Summary: Joel and Sheila want to know how Eric got a black eye. He's practically family and family cares for each other.





	Like Family

"What happened to you?" Joel stared at Eric, who ducked his head, staring even more intently at his laptop.

"Nothing. What? Hey, did you see that thing about racoons?"

Joel was not so easily distracted. Okay, he might have been easily distracted if Eric had any skill in distraction or even just started talking about sports but that seemed unlikely at best. "Did a racoon give you a black eye?"

"What?" Eric glanced up nervously. "What black – oh, right. This. Is nothing. I stumbled out of bed, tripped over an action figure and bam, straight into the doorframe."

Joel folded his arms. "I believe every word of that," he said and Eric relaxed. However Joel went on, "Except for that's how you got a black eye. I've walked into my share of doorframes – and doors, and ceilings and unexpected staircases in dark hallways - hazard of the realtor business, especially when you're my height. So I know you don't get a black eye from a doorframe, least not without any bruising around the area, like here." He touched his own forehead to demonstrate.

Eric swallowed, looked at the laptop again. Joel sighed and moved to sit on the chair alongside him.

"You want to tell me what happened?" Joel asked softly.

Eric shook his head.

"Who did this?" A few months ago, Joel would, if he'd paid any attention to Eric at all, assumed that the boy's stepfather was to blame. But Dan was dead, and aside from the potential murder charge if anyone found the body, Joel could not be sorry for sort-of-accidentally killing the abusive bastard.

"It's nothing," Eric said again. He tried to brush his hair over the bruising to no avail.

Sheila came to join them, beaming. "I had such a good powerwalk," she said cheerfully before seeing Joel's expression. "What's wrong?"

"Show her," Joel said.

Eric lifted his head, misery etched into his features. Sheila's mouth flew open.

"Who did this?"

"Why do you both keep asking me that?" Eric wailed.

"Because you won't tell us," Joel said.

Sheila moved to sit opposite Eric. "Honey, it's okay. You can talk to us."

Eric's lower lip trembled. "I'm fine."

"Was it Abby?" Sheila asked and both Joel and Eric shot her surprised looks.

"Why would it be Abby?" Joel asked.

"Well she did hit that guy with a tray," Sheila said.

"But he deserved it!" Joel said, looking at Eric for confirmation. A small nod was enough. "See? You didn't deserve that, right, Eric?"

"No! But it wasn't Abby!"

Sheila leaned over to stare at Eric before she decided he was telling the truth. "All right then. But it always pays to ask. Domestic abuse is a serious issue."

"Domestic abuse?" Eric was confused and it showed.

"Just because you and Abby are…close. She doesn't get to hurt you." Sheila thought about this for a moment. "Unless you've got certain kinks but even then you have to be clear about boundaries and choose a safe word and –"

"Please make her stop," Eric begged and Joel cleared his throat.

"Maybe we can get back to the issue at hand?" Joel said.

Sheila nodded. Eric closed the laptop, made to stand, but Joel put one hand on the back of his chair.

"Eric. Come on. You know our secrets. What will it take to get you to open up to us?" Joel glanced at the fridge. "Abby likes ice-cream when she's upset. I think we have rocky road."

Sheila nodded. "We do. Would you like some rocky road?"

Eric shook his head and then gave a sob.

"If you don't like rocky road I can drive to the store and get something else," Joel offered in desperation.

Eric shook his head again. Sheila reached out across the table and put a hand on his arm.

"Whatever happened we won't judge you," she said. "How can we?"

It took Eric a few deep breaths before he wiped at his face with his sleeve and regained his composure. "It was just some guy at school. No big deal."

Maybe it wasn't, to Eric. He was a nice guy, a nerdy guy, not some loud mouthed jock. An easy target. Maybe he got beat up often. That didn't make it right.

"He plays football?" Joel guessed.

"Yes! How did you know?" Eric looked impressed at Joel's psychic powers.

Joel shrugged. "Lucky guess. If it's not a big deal though, why are you upset?"

"You're being so nice."

Since when did being nice make people cry? Joel was fairly certain life had been simpler not so long ago, and that while this wasn't part of the new normal that came with an undead wife, it was another oddity that he could do without.

Eric ran his fingers over the laptop case as if it was comforting to have the technology near him. "I'm not used to people caring. I mean my mom, I love my mom, but she…she doesn't really understand me. My dad's gone and Dan. Well."

Worse than no father figure with the constant putdowns. Joel almost made a joke about how he'd put Dan down, but thought better of it.

"You guys have become like my family," Eric went on. He gave a wry smile at Joel. "Especially you."

It had just sort of happened. The kid had been more help than Joel could ever have anticipated but he was still a kid and he needed guidance and longed for a father figure and dammit Joel had stepped in out of necessity before he'd realised how close they were all becoming.

"I'm an only child, like Abby," Eric said. "And I wanted Abby to be like my sister. Only I wanted…you know. But I always thought she was out of my league. And then we were like best friends and now, now it's complicated."

Joel tried to get his head around all that.

"Because you think of her as your sister but you're dating her?" Sheila asked, doing a better job of summing up Eric's ramblings than Joel possibly could.

"I guess. And I don't want to screw it up. Any of it."

Joel clapped Eric on the shoulder. "Hey. I don't want Abby dating until she's at least another ten, twenty years older. But if she has to date, then I can't think of anyone better than you."

Eric's eyes lit up like a puppy seeing a proffered treat.

"I know you care about her," Joel went on. "I know you'd never hurt her."

Possibly the other way around – right, now he got where Sheila had been coming from.

"I would never," Eric agreed.

"And you're right. We're family," Joel said. "And we want to help you. So, this football player, what's his deal? He wanted you to help with his homework and you refused?"

Maybe he could go and have words with the boy's parents about cheating.

Eric shook his head. "Nothing like that. He called me a faggot."

"Jesus!" Joel forced himself to stay in his seat.

"And that's you know," Eric said, "okay I guess. I'm not gay but if I were gay it would be okay. Like in Avenue Q."

Joel blinked a few times. "I don't think I know what that is. But I know he insulted you."

Sheila nodded fervently. "He didn't call you gay and he wasn't saying you were. He used a slur, to hurt you."

"I could handle it," Eric said. "But then he said I was a faggot because of my mom. That my mom's a lesbo dyke. I don't think she's a lesbian because she really liked Dan or you know, bedroom stuff with him, or why keep him around? So I didn't argue about her dating Anne, I just said I think she's probably bisexual but it's not my place to label anyone, let alone my mother."

Joel winced. Eric was sweet and thoughtful and intellectual and he'd tried to defuse the situation with common sense and intelligence. Which of course had backfired because in the football player eyes, Eric was supposed to have got upset and cried, or thrown the first punch. "I'm guessing he didn't take kindly to that."

"No. He called me a fucking weirdo and punched me." Eric shrugged. "Who cares what he thinks?"

"No-one," Sheila agreed. "But he shouldn't have hit you. I have a good mind to go and talk to his parents."

Joel was glad they were on the same page but Eric was against the idea.

"Just forget about it. For all I know he's a closeted gay man himself. They make some of the worst homophobes unless they can accept themselves." Eric shook his head. "You won't tell my mom, will you? I don't want her to feel that this happened because of her. I want her to be happy, and Anne makes her happy."

Eric had the patience of a saint. One again, Joel was glad that if Abby had to date, it was with someone so compassionate.

"We won't interfere," Joel said at last. "This time. But if this happens again you have to tell your mom, and we'll all see about talking to this guy's parents."

"Thank you." Eric let out a long breath. "I feel better for telling someone. I didn't even dare tell Abby in case she went all lunch tray on the guy. We don't need any more trouble with the principal."

 _We_ , Joel noted. "Amen to that.

Luckily Abby was currently out clothes shopping at some sort of sale that had required Joel handing over what he thought was an inordinate amount of cash. Abby had countered that it was a saving in the long run since she'd get more clothes for more less money. Not to mention that one of her shirts and a pair of jeans had been ruined helping out with mom's diet. Joel had given in and let her take pretty much all the cash he had. He'd drawn the line at letting her have his credit card and held onto that victory with pride.

Eric glanced over at the fridge. "Can I still get some ice-cream?"

"Oh, absolutely," Sheila said, patting Eric's arm and Joel went to dish up a couple of bowls for himself and Eric.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr promo post](https://meridianrosewrites.tumblr.com/post/179013458267/like-family-meridianrose-meridianrose-santa)


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